Christmas Goodies

The long and hard Fourth of July run of rodeos across the western U.S. saw some outstanding performances from Wyoming’s pro rodeo cowboys who wear the colors of Team Wyoming under a sponsorship contract with the state’s tourism office. It is the only signed agreement in the U.S. between a state agency and professional rodeo athletes.

The 2004 world champ in bareback riding is co-champion of the 2010 Prescott, Arizona rodeo which is touted as the oldest event of its kind in the country. Kelly Timberman of Mills, Wyoming scored an 86 in Prescott to strike the pay window for $4,800. Kelly won the Williams Lake, British Columbia rodeo that paid $3,200 and was in fine spirits after his July 3 outing for 84 points at the Cody Stampede netting another $1,400:

Kelly_cody
Timberman bounced up to #10 in the world standings following his “Cowboy Christmas” performances collecting nearly $16,000.

Midwest, Wyoming steer wrestler Les Shepperson showed his mettle by winning the Greeley (Colorado) Stampede over the Fourth and doing so with a strained MCL in his right knee. Les is now 31st in the world standings.

Gillette’s Chet Johnson is working with a similar injury situation only his MCL issue is with the left knee. Nonetheless, Johnson won the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche spurring to score 87 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Sundown to snare $3,700. He gathered another $ 1,100 at St. Paul, OR and is currently 34th in the bronc riding world standings.

Kanin Asay of Powell won the championship round of the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls event in Cody, July 5. Asay pocketed a total of $7,700 toward his attempt to make the national finals in Vegas come December. We anxiously await the July 25 broadcast on ESPN2 of the Cody event.

Gillette bull rider Bobby Welsh has jumped to 20th in the world standings following a Cowboy Christmas dash that included a third-place finish at St. Paul, Oregon where Welsh scored an 88-point ride. The three other Team Wyoming bull riders – Clayton Savage of Casper, Asay, and Seth Glause of Rock Springs – are each within striking distance of the Top 15 holding down positions 25, 30 and 37 respectively.

Glause is a two-event cowboy and left the Cody Stampede pleased with his 86-point bronc ride that provided a paycheck of $5,000:

Seth_cody
Casper’s Jhett Johnson (heeler) has joined forces with the man who leads all headers thus far in 2010. Turtle Powell of Texas and Johnson will be throwing with gusto to get a national finals team roping bid. Johnson is currently in the #25 spot. The pair won third and more than $60,000 at the recent Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic in Reno. Unfortunately that cash doesn’t count in the world standings race.

Xtreme Crowds

A family of five from New York told us they enjoyed their first rodeo so much at the July 4th Cody Stampede they stayed overnight and came back for the Xtreme Bulls event the next night. An extended family of seven from Mexico spoke little English but made it known they wanted to meet some pro rodeo cowboys and anxiously stopped by our booth area three or four times during the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls hoping to get an autograph. They returned after the riding was completed and waited in line an hour before getting to meet bullfighter Dusty Tuckness of Meeteetse, WY and Wyoming bull riders Kanin Asay from Powell and Seth Glause from Rock Springs. Pictures were taken, hats and autograph sheets signed, questions answered.

‘Did you win?” more than one kid queried.
“No, but I tried,” said Glause.

One woman whispered to a friend. “My daughter likes country music so I want to get his autograph. I know he’s one of those singers,” she assured her pal. I passed this information on to Seth and he said, “Yeah, like I can sing.” He got a good chuckle out of the whole thing.

We only had two chairs therefore Kanin Asay was low on a stool during most of the fan gathering. That’s okay. He’s young. He also stood and signed and posed and laughed and answered questions for more than an hour. Then Kanin and his traveling partners headed up the road to the Calgary Stampede. They departed the Cody arena around 10pm.

A lot of new rodeo fans were made Sunday night in Cody. There was the group of thirteen from the UK and Australia attending their first rodeo. “How do you speak cowboy?” they asked our video man, Mike. Being a Casper, Wyoming native this was not a hard question to answer. “I don’t really know,” said Mike. “Just start every sentence with ‘Y’all’ and be sure to remove your hat when you first meet a lady. Also, don’t leave your hat on the bed. It’s bad luck.” .

You had to feel good watching all those folks waiting to meet our cowboys. And if you get the chance this year I hope you do the same. Rodeo people aren’t perfect but they sure are good. Manners matter to them. A handshake is a contract. And when they get bucked early, or miss a loop, they smile and say, “I tried.” And then they’ll try again.

Seth Glause and Kanin Asay may not have scored inside the Xtreme Bulls arena in Cody but they sure made some points with fans afterward. Our talented video person, Mike McCrimmon, has some highlights for you and they’ll come at you as follows:

1. Seth Glause in the Fourth of July Cody Stampede rodeo. He lands an 83-point ride and finishes in the money.
2. Kanin Asay staying on for 7.76 of the required eight seconds, July 4.
3. A batch of work from bullfighter Dusty Tuckness on July 4-5.
4. Kanin Asay and Xtreme Bulls ESPN television announcer Dan Miller (a Cody resident) before the competition on July 5.
5. Money-winning performances by Wheatland’s Tyler Willis and Casper’s Clayton Savage in the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls championship round, July 5.
6. The fan gathering at and near our Wyoming Travel & Tourism booth after the Xtreme Bulls

event in Cody.

Cowboy Christmas in Canada

On this the most American of U.S. holiday weekends a growing number of pro rodeo contestants are spending their traditional “Cowboy Christmas” in Canada. It doesn’t hurt that there is a $100,000 pot of gold up for grabs in each of six events that comprise the Calgary Stampede’s championship round.

Gillette saddle bronc rider Chet Johnson is quite fond of competing in Canada. He took home a truckload of Canadian dollars last year. Well, that’s not entirely true. Johnson made so much money up north he opened a bank account there. Chet is in the first pool of bronc riders out in Calgary starting Friday. Kelly Timberman from Mills, and the 2004 world bareback champ, is in the first pool of men in his event.

The Calgary Stampede is by invitation only for contestants and two Wyoming bull riders are very happy to have received the call up to Canada. Bobby Welsh of Gillette and Kanin Asay from Powell are in the same pool of bull riders who will strive for their best outings of the year beginning July 7.

Asay had the chance to join the Calgary pool that opens July 3 but opted to stay in the states to compete in his hometown rodeo – The Cody Stampede. The only Wyoming edition of Xtreme Bulls is July 5th so that provides Asay a good opportunity to shine twice in front of his longtime fans and his family. Rodeo fans traveling to Cody this weekend will also see Meeteetse product Dusty Tuckness handling bull fighting chores. Dusty was proud host, along with his close friend Kanin, of a special bullfighting and bull riding event in Cody, June 14. Here’s a minute of the action as edited by our own Mike McCrimmon who saw his camera gain the affection of more than one horned critter:

Seth Glause of Rock Springs is going to be on top of bulls going for the Cody crown in both the Stampede on the Fourth of July and the Cody-Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls the next day. That event will be taped by our friends from Winnercomm Sports, edited, and aired nationally on ESPN2 at 12:00pm mountain time, July 19. The Cody event will feature five bull riders who own world champion buckles. It is the first Xtreme Bulls ever to have that many champs in one setting. You can still grab a ticket at: www.codystampederodeo.com or by calling 1-800-207-0744. Ticket prices are $25 for general admission.